Friday, April 12, 2013

So what do you do if you want to find an ancestor to the earliest amphibians? You figure out where the oldest amphibians lived, and search the world for rocks that are slightly older, and represent the right environment that such fish would have inhabited. It takes a lot of detective work, and once you figure out some candidates in the sedimentary rock record, you start digging and searching, and hoping that your evidence was right. Especially if the rock layers you have chosen are in a cold barren environment where you have to keep watch over your shoulder for polar bears. That's essentially what Neil Shubin and his colleagues did, and in the frozen rock they hit pay dirt.

He discovered a "fishapod", a lobe-finned fish he called Tiktaalik roseae that had features that no other fish have: a flexible neck, a strong shoulders and wrist bones, features that would have allowed a creature to creep out of the water and onto land. It is the best fossil representing the transition from fish to amphibian that has ever been found.

Dr. Shubin is also an accomplished writer, and his book "Your Inner Fish" was a best seller. This makes it all the more exciting that the Associated Students of Modesto Junior College have invited Dr. Shubin to speak at MJC on Friday, April 19th. He will appear in the main auditorium of the Performing Arts Center at 5:00 PM, and following his comments, he will participate in a book signing.

I am thrilled that our students, especially Dimitri, the president of the MJC Geology Club, worked so hard to arrange this event. If you are anywhere near Modesto (it's only a bit over an hour from the Bay Area or Sacramento, not counting traffic), this is a rare opportunity, and I hope to see you there!

For more information and directions, call 209-575-6479 or email me at hayesg (at) mjc.edu.

About Me

I am a teacher of geology at Modesto Junior College and former president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Far Western Section. I have led field trips all over the western United States, and a few excursions overseas, but my homebase is the Sierra Nevada, the Great Valley, and the Coast Ranges of California.

Ask Geotripper

Is there something about geology that you are curious about? Do you have questions about the scientific aspects of political controversies? I can try to provide a scientist's perspective. Your questions and possible answers could be a springboard to a blog discussion, or they can be private. Anonymity is always assumed. Contact Geotripper at hayesg (at) mjc.edu.

Blooks, Boogers and Bleries

Here are some of the series I've produced for the Geotripper Blog:

The Other California: what to see when you've seen all the really famous places in the Golden State (in progress).Into the Great Unknown: A rafting journey down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The most incredible adventure of my life (so far)!

The Hawai'i That Was: An exploration of the geology, natural history, and anthropology of the most isolated lands on the planet. It's a lot more than beaches, shopping, and palm trees!